Old Wound
by Midsully
Summary: Twin Suns Obi-Wan vs Maul, only it’s Hiccup and Johann One-shot


Hiccup and Zephyr were sitting by a small fire well outside the village. The chief had brought his eldest with him on a weekend away from the concerns of their people to discuss her future, whether as chieftess or sister of the next chief. Hiccup and Astrid has agreed upon learning they were expecting that they wouldn't force the role on their child, that they would grant their offspring a choice. Zephyr had been showing a great deal of interest in Hiccup's chiefly duties and had begun sneaking after him to observe how he did things, her father had found it endearing and invited her to join him after catching her a few times.

One night while making dinner, Astrid had brought it up to him while the kids were outside. After after all Zephyr was 17 now and would need to choose her place in the world, and there were also other things he needed to prepare for. So Hiccup handed control of the village over to his wife for the weekend and took his daughter on a camping trip.

It was dark now as they cooked some mutton they'd hunted down. After snoggletog when she was eight, Zephyr was trained extensively in weapons by her mother, 'over reliance on clever traps is dangerous' Astrid had told her. Hiccup was no slouch with a bow and arrow, but his wife was still the better marksmen, so he wasn't too surprised when his little girl quickly learned how to put shoot him.

"Dad not that I don't enjoy getting away from the village and sleeping outside, but why did you want me to come with you for this? And why couldn't Nuffink come with us?" Zephyr asked, prompting a smile from her old man, she took after him in terms of curiosity and smarts.

"Well Zeph, your mother and I were talking the other day, and you're not much younger than I was when I became chief. And while I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, we wanted you to start giving real thought to whether or not you wanted to be me successor when the time comes. This trip is for you to ask questions, learn about what's expected of you; and about the less pleasant side of being a chief." Hiccup explained, he didn't want to tell her about the letter he had received a few months prior. Heather had written to warn him that Johann, the once trusted trader that turned out to be a dragon hunter, was no longer frozen in the caves beneath Berserker island. Dagur had men routinely check the place where he had nearly killed Hiccup while trying to steal what they now knew was a Bewilderbeast egg. One day they went by and found nothing but broken ice chips on the ground and no sign of the man. The letter didn't need to tell him what he already knew, the trader would come looking for him.

Naturally Hiccup informed Astrid right away, delivering the news with a freshly sharpened axe and daggers. She understood the meaning of the gifts and was currently having their friends help her prep their homes for the vengeful man. The Berkians has reached out to other allies from their days out on Dragon's Edge, the Defender's of the wing were happy to provide intel from their surprisingly large network of spy's. With the dragons all safely in the Hidden World they had taken up the task of protecting other animals being hunted for sport or profit, they'd brought back several missives on Johann's trail. The wing maidens similarly now protected several species of birds, their love of the sky still coming through, and speeding the delivery of communications by sending letters via pigeons of all things.

All reports indicated that Johann had managed to find the location of New Berk, all that was left was for him to make his move. Luckily he had no resources to gather a large force, he'd have to come alone.

"So what are some of the less pleasant things about being chief? Like when Uncle Tuffnut causes something to blow up?" Zephyr asked, bringing her father back to the present.

"Well that's certainly one of the more common things that will give you a two ice block headache, but no. The things I'm talking about are more about the job: when a boat loses its catch, when two farmers are arguing over whose she is whose. And in hopefully extremely rare cases for you when-"

"When someone is coming for you..." a voice from the darkness finished for him. The pair looked up as a figure stepped into the light of their fire, Johann. The man hadn't aged a day, likely a happy byproduct of the bewilderbeast's freezing breath. On his hip were two swords, Hiccup he received a personal report from Throk about them. The two could interlock at the hilt to form a double blade, a strange practice that was uncommon in the archipelago.

"Zeph, run home to your mother." Hiccup said, his voice leaving no room for argument. Of course this was his and Astrid's child, so she opened her mouth to try anyway; but her father was resolute. "GO. I will tend to this old wound." With a look of concern, his daughter heeded his command.

Thankfully the former trader seemed to have no interest in the girl as she ran back toward the village on the other side of the island. "Look what has become of you Master 'Iccup." Johann began with a mocking voice when he called the chief by the old adage, "Chief, on a new island with a young daughter ready to learn your ways. And shockingly no dragon anywhere nearby."

Hiccup knew the man was trying to get a reaction out of him, in the years since their marriage Astrid had drilled him on remaining focused in battle; and he knew this battle had started despite no blades being drawn yet. "Look at what I've risen above. I'm not the same teen you knew nearly twenty years ago."

Johann's eyes narrowed ever so slightly when Hiccup didn't rise to the bait about dragons. "I've come to kill you Master 'Iccup, but perhaps there is no point left anymore. You're living a mundane life that you oft sought to rid yourself of in your youth. Maybe it's better to leave you to fester in your unfulfilling droll of a life."

"And if you do kill me? What would be left for you? The dragons are all gone now, hidden away for man; if revenge and profit is all you care for, then you have nothing." Hiccup rebuffed calmly.

This comment seemed to enrage Johann as he drew one of the blade at his hip. "And you have it so great!?" He shouted as he dug the sword into the ground and used it to toss enough dirt on the small fire to extinguish it, bathing the pair in darkness save for the moonlight gleaming off the older man's weapon. Hiccup kept his composure, knowing that anything he said at this point would only push his adversary to attack him. "Why did you move to this island I wonder? Not simply to hide as the tales would suggest...". Johann wondered aloud, "Oh... you have a purpose here. Protecting the dragons still perhaps? Tell me where they are and I might spare you; or maybe I'll go and ask your little wife. Miss Astrid was always so helpful... and I'm sure your children would be excellent... motivators..."

With all men there are lines you simply do not cross, and Johann he just crossed the wrong one with Hiccup. He was willing to take threats to his own life, didn't worry about Astrid or Toothless as they could look after themselves better than he ever would be able to; but no one threatened Zephyr and Nuffink. It had been years since he'd used inferno, he old dragon blade, even though he kept it well maintained and wore it frequently around the village; he prayed that the last bit of Nightmare Saliva was still good.

The blade ejected from the hilt and lit up with what seemed to be more spectacle than he remembered, but it was likely him imagining things. Johann's eyes widened briefly before he silently drew his second blade and deftly locked it with the first, he twirled the double blade before bring it to rest at and angle on his right. Hiccup ran every sparring session he'd had with his wife since they were seventeen, and settled to have his sword tucked close to the right of his torso with the blade pointed at the sky.

The two stared each other down, trying to guess the others next move, waiting to see who would make the first mistake.

It was Johann who lost patience first and with a roar he spun his blades like a windmill and leap at the Chief. Hiccup may reaction was flawless, he swung upwards to block the first strike and quickly brought it down to parry the second from the opposite blade. Finally he tailed his arms and brought the blade down toward the center of the combined weapon; the Gronckle iron held true as it cut through the hilt and he could feel it tears if down the left side of Johann's body.

They stood there for what felt like several minutes buses likely only a second or two. Johann's took a deep breath as strength left him. Hiccup being ever the compass souls he was retracted inferno and caught the would be assassin before he hit the ground, blood was rapidly coloring e man's garb. Johann grasped his arm weakly, looking for something to hang on to.

"Tell me..." he begged weakly, "are the dragons still out there?"

He was on death's door, there was no reason to lie. "They are." Hiccup answered solemnly, he despised needless death, even when the one dying had meant to kill him.

Breathing becoming erratic, Johann's gaze drifted to the stars above. "Then one day..."

The end of his sentence never came, life had left the man and his now empty eyes remained on the sky. Hiccup merely shook his head sadly, even in death he held to his greed. Sparing one final kindness, the chief ran his hand over the trader's eyes, closing them.

Sometime later Astrid burst from the tree line with axe in hand. Zephyr had barged into their house short of breath claiming a strange man had shown up in the woods and Hiccup had sent her home. Knowing immediately it was Johann the mother quickly shouted out the door and a minute later the twins and Fishlegs were there and ordered to watch her children.

However when she reached the spot Hiccup had told her he planned to take Zeph, she found a small fire with the unmistakable figure of her husband sitting with his back to it, looking out over the nearby cliff. As she approached, wearing as she didn't know the situation, she spotted the corpse of the man who had deceived the entire archipelago for years. The large slash down his side told her all she needed to know, Hiccup had ended the threat, like he always did.

Without saying a word she rested he axe on the log meant to be sat on and joined the man she loved on the ground, his arm already moving to wrap around her as she settled against him. There was no need to words, they had become proficient at silent communication, she knew he hated when this outcome was unavoidable. He'd be fine in a day or two, but he just needed some time to accept it.

"We were right, he wanted to know where the dragons went." Hiccup said after awhile, her eyes had closed at some point she didn't remember. Astrid 'hmm'd, it was the second thought she'd had when news reached them, first being Hiccup's safety.

"I'm guessing he wasn't going to just take the 'they're gone' explanation huh?" She said without lifting her head from his shoulder, he was far too comfy. She felt him shake his head.

"He figured that we knew. Would've just been happy to just give him the story that they've left the world of man...". Hiccup trailed off, he was worried to tell her something. "Then he threatened the kids."

Dead silence.

Her fists clenched and she wished he wasn't dead only so she could sink her axe into his skull. Despite training them early on, especially after Zeph showed her trap making skills, Astrid was fiercely protective of her children.

She knew now why the outcome had been unavoidable, she remembered when another chief visited the previous year an insinuates that giving him a night with their daughter would ensure a peace treaty. Astrid had been searching for the nearly sharp object when a punch sounded followed by a thump as the chief hit the ground. She turned back to find Hiccup standing over the man with a bloody fist and shaking with rage. The visiting chief had been escorted away by Eret, who told the man he was lucky that Hiccup hit him as Astrid would likely have removed his head.

"The sun will be rising soon." Hiccup notes as the first tinges if pink started to appear in the distance, "Stay and watch it with me?" He looked at her already knowing e answering but asking as he always did.

Her smile was answer enough, they settled back against one another as the new day came upon them. After the sunrise, they would return to the village; Hiccup would likely need to get some sleep and she would give a few orders for the village that needed to be done before joining him. But for the moment they just sat together and enjoyed the small escape, the last lingering threat from their youth had been dealt with. Now they could rest easy knowing that their children had nothing other than their ordinary teenage worries to contend with.

They had peace.


End file.
